Rat Swimming Pool

My rats are afraid of water, and I'm jealous of all those swimming rat videos.

So, introducing the Rat Swimming Pool.




We bought this for $6 at a garage sale. Here, Jumpy, Doc, and Mabel are learning that their new jungle gym has hidden treats. We are slowly working towards swimming... When I finally have swimming rats, I shall take more photos and maybe even video. Woohoo.





Here it is brand new for $35.99 at Target. And, I didn't get all of the accessories which I wouldn't use anyways.

By the way, this pool fits directly in front of our double critter nation, and the little swimmers-to-be can easily scamper from the cage to their pool.


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Etsy Pink Hammock

This is another one of my Etsy hammocks. (Currently available for $7.50 plus shipping and handling) 7.5" x 7.5" makes this a "bikini" hammock, meaning a very small hammock that my rats just love. They squeeze 2 rats into this size of hammock all of the time.



The above Christmas hammock (8.5" x 8.5") actually has 3 rats perched in it.

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Bittle Enjoying Her New Toy

Surprise. Surprise. Yes, we do have a dog. Here's Bittle with her new toy.


Bittle loves small toys. Luckily, she doesn't see the rats as toys.




I wish we'd taken video. Because here she is nibbling. She tends to nibble as long as you squeak the toy.

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Count the Rats - Episode 2 Answer

There are 4 rats in that rat pile.

Here's a slightly different view.



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Count the Rats - Episode 2

How many rats are in the rat pile?

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Rat / Mouse Hammock - My First of my Halloween Line of Etsy Hammocks

Hopefully, this is just the beginning of my Halloween themed hammocks. I've got lots of ideas, and with any luck, they will come to fruition.




At this moment, this hammock is still available at Etsy for $7.50 plus shipping and handling.

Halloween is a big deal at my house. We get dressed up, lots of decorations, and the rats get to greet the trick-or-treaters. So, expect more posts about Halloween plans. I'm already getting excited.

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Mabel and Rose have Pneumonia

We almost lost Mabel to pneumonia, but she's a trooper and hung in there until her medications kicked in.

I don't have any pictures when she was horribly sick. Taking pictures was the last thing we were thinking about.

Here's Mabel, the day after she began treatment. This picture made me so happy, because she was comfortable enough to curl up and sleep. The picture does not show that you could see her breathe as her tummy sucked in to move air in and out of her lungs.





I, also, missed the opportunity to get a picture of her xray. It was pretty scary her right lung was completely socked in, and her left lung had air but also had evidence of severe pneumonia. Her pulse ox was 84%, the poor thing. Her vet didn't think she would make it through the night.

Mabel spent the day sprawled on my chest. Most of the time she needed me to support her. If I put her in the cage with her buddies, she would crawl to the door and look at me, so I kept putting her back on my chest.

We returned to the vet the next day, and she was so surprised to see Mabel alive. Mabel was feeling a lot better and actually nipped the vet after she took her temperature. LOL Mabel, even when ill, is still a punk. Later, the vet wanted to show Mabel to the other vet because apparently both of them didn't expect her to survive the night. And, of course, Mabel nipped the other vet, too.

By the way, she's always been a nipper. If you don't pay attention to Mabel, she will gently grasp your skin. So, apparently, she will use the same technique when you're a vet and bothering her.

Rose, also, has pneumonia, but no where as severe as Mabel.

I do have some cute youtube videos of medicating Mabel and Rose.

Mabel's Video - Mabel takes her medications easily.

Rose's Video - Rose demonstrates the hard way to take medications.

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Current Sewing Project - A pair of trousers for relaxing.

I couldn't call them pants because my father pointed out that the term pants is like panties and essentially refers to undergarments. And, I couldn't call them slacks because to me, slacks are sleek and professional and these are for relaxing. So, these are going to be my relaxing trousers.

Yip, surprise surprise. I'm actually sewing something for myself.

Now, I may sew lots and lots of cage liners and hammocks, but clothing. Nope. One of the things I enjoy about sewing is learning new things. And, for this project, it was buttonholes.




My poor Singer 66. It was put on the sidelines for the buttonholing. And, I missed it sorely. The 66 is so NOT complicated. I'm not saying buttonholing is complicated per se. By the way, the tangles of thread that are visible above in my buttonhole practice piece are ummm not examples of my frustration with buttonholes. Anyways, I improved with practice. Two hours for 2 buttonholes. Sigh. It will go faster next time.





And, here's where I am now. I should be finishing this tonight. I only have the waist band and hemming to go. I'm really pleased with the "trousers" so far. I'm loving how the front is fancier than the back, and I've matched up the lines fairly well. By the way, the fabric is from an old duvet cover that I obtained at a garage sale.

Oh, and I do have a whole bunch of hammocks lined up for sewing.

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Critter Nation Cage Setup

I was perusing my photo album and stumbled across this photo.




The upstairs was set-up as a "jungle gym." This was back when I was thinking that if Walter could just exercise, he would lose weight. The more I read about rat nutrition the more I am convinced that Walter is just genetically predisposed to be fat. He's likely related to Zucker rats which are used in obesity research. Sad thought, eh? My rat is fat because he was bred to be fat so that scientists could learn about obesity in humans.

Anyways, I'm thinking about putting them on a low complex carbohydrate diet to see if that would get Walter to lose weight, since apparently that's what works for Zucker rats.

Wow, I blabbed about the "jungle gym" there. We still keep lots of activities in the cage, but we took down the ropes. The rats wouldn't climb on those. I think I need to use shorter and taut stretches of the rope.

Here's downstairs. In this case, it's done up as the lounge (places to sleep but no food)


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NY Ratfest 2012

A few weeks ago, Skip Lee and I attended the NY Ratfest 2012. It's not a huge event, just rat loving people gathering together for a delicious BBQ and to talk rats.
The awesome folk of Mainely Rat Rescue were on hand, and we adopted Sam and Dean from them.
Here's Skip Lee showing me the awesome rat jewelry he won for me during the little raffle they held for Mainely Rat Rescue Raffle. Ain't he great?
But, July is the month for Mainely Rat Rescue's really big Raffle Check it out. There's some awesome stuff being raffled right now.

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GRAND OPENING RittlesNBittles is now open on Etsy

I'm still figuring things out, feels like I've been speckling dry wall, BUT the store is up and functioning.




I'm planning on adding more details to the store, i.e. banner, etc and more items. But, there's my first four hammocks up for sale.

This hammock has the honor of being my first listing.




So, go ahead and take a peek at my my Etsy store. RittlesNBittles

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More ridiculousness

Here's another sleeping rat in the most ridiculous of positions. This is Dean, one of our new boys. And, Rose is using him as a pillow.

Ain't it cute that he's still only Rose size (ok, maybe he's already a tad bigger) He's going to be a hefty squish if he keeps growing like he is.




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Doc Doc being ridiculous

Here is DocDoc (Doctor- named after Doctor Who) sprawled under the water bottle. He hangs out like this a lot, but this time he looked particularly ridiculous. He's lying on a square of rock tile which keeps the cage liner from moving and provides a very cool place to lie although not soft.

I will have to try to get a picture of what happens when another rat wants a drink. Honestly, he won't move. They will be lapping away, standing on him.



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